


Canzonetta

by aron_kristina



Category: Tjajkovskij Violin Concerto RPF
Genre: Composing, Conducting, D major, Gen, Inspiration, Love of music, Music, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-23
Updated: 2011-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-27 23:05:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/301029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aron_kristina/pseuds/aron_kristina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The second movement is about love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Canzonetta

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zopyrus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zopyrus/gifts).



> Thanks as always to my beta-reader.
> 
> Where I come from we spell the composers name Tjajkovskij, so that's how I've spelled it here.

Göteborg, March 2012

The problem with conducting a symphonic orchestra when they're playing a concerto with a soloist is that even though you've studied the piece in all it's details and know how you want it to sound, there is another person who will have just as much impact on the end result. Sometimes this makes for an even better performance, an exchange of ideas, working together to create the best there can be. Sometimes though... sometimes no amount of professionalism can make two such opposing views on the music come together. Sometimes every note is a struggle, a battle between conductor and soloist, with the entire orchestra as casualties.

 

Clarens, March 1878

Starting a piece requires an idea. When there is a start, there is room to let the music escape and run wild. Sitting in his shirtsleeves, looking at the wall in front of him, he sketches the music in the air with his hands, shaping the melody before picking up his pen. Perhaps a key signature quite close to C would be the best. The lamplight is dim, and he has to squint to see as he starts to put down the notes, writing until it is far too late, and then going to bed to sleep and dream of the music.

The next day he does it all again, writing the things he hears in his head, everything going so fast, the notes are almost illegible, but he knows what they mean, he can see how they sound, the music is living on the page. If he could only explain it to K he wouldn't have to even write it down.

Writing it is almost feverish, K is starting to look worried, but Pjotr keeps writing. There is so much music inside of him, if he does not get it down on paper it might explode, and in his sleep he imagines music flowing out of his mouth, his eyes, his ears, drowning in it. There is nothing for it but to continue.

 

Madrid, March 2012

It's not even as if this is the most difficult thing he's ever done, he's sure of it. Gustavo is the music director of three symphony orchestras, on three different continents. He's been called a prodigy. It's not even the first time he's done the concerto, of course not. It's one of the great concertos of all time. So why does he feel this concerned over it? It's like the nerves he wasn't even sure he had suddenly popped up to say hello to him.

The second movement in particular bothers him, in a way it's never done before. What does it want, where does it strive? Why did Tjajkovskij put such a movement in, with its lightly concealed sadness. A slow second movement is of course part of the concerto structure, but the violin! It weeps in the second movement, where it is full of passion in the first movement, reminding Gustavo of tango, and the third movement is so very Russian, and jubilant in the sheer joy of playing.

 

Clarens, March 1878

The second movement is about love.

The second movement is always about love, but this one even more so. He wants the whole world to know his love for the music, his love of composing, his love for N and his love for this frustrating, brilliant violin player, his inspiration and friend.

It’s slow and careful, full of feeling, the violin softly touching, caressing the player, not virtuous in technique, but difficult enough to get right. He’s very pleased with it.

 

Caracas, April 2012

He does what he always does when he can’t figure things out, he asks his wife. She laughs at him, so beautiful, holding their son in her arms, and he’s almost swept away. She puts her arms around him, their son between them, and kisses his cheek.

“What do you think it’s about?” she asks, but he doesn’t know. If he did he could solve the mystery. Find the hidden meaning in the music. It’s his job, his talent, his passion, but he still can’t find it.

“Listen again,” is the advice she gives him, before retreating to put their child to bed. He stands and watches them go.

 

Clarens, March 1878

The third movement just bursts forth, a jubilation, a celebration, and he can’t wait to show it to K.

They play it through, interpreting his scrawled notes, once, twice, but there is something not right. Between the bold first movement and the jubilant last, the second movement looses its easy grace. It turns bland there, lying flat between mountains, a landscape without charm. It no longer has anything to say.

He retires back to his desk, takes out a new sheet of paper and dips his pen into the ink. This needs another approach, something much larger, something with more weight to it, less delicacy. It’s still going to be about love, but as he starts working he realizes it still has to be about love.

It takes a few days before he finds the right idea and tone, but when he does it becomes clear and it's written almost instantly. It tells his pain, his love, how much he hates the music, how much he loves it, how he can never bear to be without it.

He dreams that night of Beethoven, of going deaf, and he wakes in a cold sweat, convinced for a minute that she’ll remove herself from him, that he’s been an unfaithful disciple, before the sounds of the house start filtering in. She won’t leave him, not this time, not ever. No matter what he feels for K, for N, whatever he’s ever felt for any human being she’ll always be closest to his heart, the Lady of Song, the Music Queen, the Godess of Sound.

 

Los Angeles, May 2012

He’s due on stage in ten minutes. Perhaps eleven, it doesn’t do to seem too keen, after all. Concert house audiences are used to having to work to get the maestro to enter. Everything is ready, he’s dressed as usual in his evening dress, braces holding his trousers up, hair doing its thing, and this is as good as it gets. Which, as always, is the absolute best he can do.

The rehearsal has been brutal. Not because of the orchestra, not because of soloist, but because of the second movement. Because of him. Today they’ve finally gotten where they need to be. He’s finally gotten to where he needs to be. He’s cracked it, he thinks, the meaning of the second movement, and he feels calm now. Out there is his orchestra, a spectacular soloist, and in the audience his wife. He owns the music, the music owns him, and he smiles to himself as the orchestra stands up and the audience starts to clap.

**Author's Note:**

> While it's true that Gustavo Dudamel is conducting Tjajkovskij's violin concerto on May 25 in Los Angeles, I have no idea whether or not he struggles with the second movement. It's just that it's always been more difficult for me to get than the first and the third movement. And of course, Tjajkovskij did write another second movement to his concerto. The original second movement is now the first movement of 'Souvenir d'un lieu cher'.
> 
> Zopyrus recommended [this recording of the concerto, so I will do the same.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geFXEdMuXl0&feature=fvsr)
> 
> [Gustavo Dudamel conducting the third movement.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxkvnpsEGms)
> 
> [First movement of ‘Souvenir d'un lieu cher’.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc95H9T3vWM)
> 
> (Also, this clip is very aptly named [“Dudamel possesed by Beethoven”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8oEUVh9HWw&feature=related) and it's a wonderful example of his style)


End file.
